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Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 will not boot HD

My old gigabyte mobo does not support ACHI and so I purchased this one, brand new, off eBay. Then purchased two sticks of RAM, brand new, Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX Intel X.M.P, DDR3-1600, unbuffered DIMM8GB, 1.6v

Connected it all up, switched it on, went into BIOS and loaded the fail-safe defaults setting. After saving, the machine switched off, started up and switched off, did this three times and then the screen displayed the usual including RAM as OK. It went onto the second page but it was too quick for me to note what was displayed. Then the screen went black, displayed "No Signal" and started reloading all over again.

I have been in touch with Gigabyte support but all they suggested was to update firmware to F6, reset the CMOS, load fail-safe settings and try again. I have done that but to no avail.

Googling produced results which have given me the impression that I should be adjusting the voltage. I then came across this forum, read all the threads re this mobo and it appears that more adjusting is required in the BIOS.

Re: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 will not boot HD

Try MCH OverVoltage from +0.05 to +0.15.
Try to disable XMP.

This "brand new" board might have been manufatured 2-3 years ago and it' warrenty may already have been expired.
If you are expecting major performance gain from AHCI you are probably going to be disapointed.

DDR3 OverVoltage Control <--- manually set to 1.60 or slightly higher
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control <--- manually set to +0.10 (0.20 might be needed)
CPU Voltage Control <--- manually set to the "normal" displayed value (1.2250 shown in your bios)

If your bios has an Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.) option, set this to Disabled.

Save settings and exit, then reboot into your bios and spend several minutes going to different bios screens. If there are no problems, exit the bios and shut off your computer. Unplug your power supply, press an hold the front panel on/off switch for 10 seconds, and then add the second memory module to memory slot #3.
Plug in your power supply and boot using a bootable Memtest86+ (v4.2) floppy, cdrom or usb disk and run Memtest86+ for at least 4 full loops. When overclocking, I run 10 loops of the Memtest86+ #5 test by typing the following keys: c 1 3 5 [enter] 0 (zero).
If there are no errors, you're probably good to go.

Re: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 will not boot HD

400 x 7 cpu settings were probably for running his DDR3 memory at the rated 1600MHz speed without overclocking the cpu.

It's best to start with the 333MHz cpu clock that will run the memory at 333 x 4.0 for 1333MHz memory speed.
Once the system is stable at stock cpu speeds, we can probably run his cpu at stock speeds (3.0GHz) using:

The memory might be stable at 1600MHz.
If you don't want to overclock the cpu, the best real world performance might be with memory at 1333MHz (400 x 3.33) with tighter primary memory timings and cpu = 3.0GHz. It might be necessary to increase some of the voltages a bit.

Thank you both for your replies but especially ProfJim for your detailed suggestions. I have followed them to the latter but I think that I may have purchased a dud board.

After changing all the relevant values, saving, rebooting and noting that there were no problems exhibited in the BIOS, I unplugged the computer, held the on/off switch for 10 seconds, added the second memory module in slot #3, and connected the DVD drive to the yellow SATAII2 connector.

When I powered on the screen remained black for a considerable time but then it displayed the memory as double the amount and OK. Went into BIOS and checked that the DVD was connected. The display was as follows:-

Exited and pressed F12 to change to DVDROM and proceeded but, much to my dismay, the DVD did not boot but went through the same cycle as before, namely post two pages, black screen, "No Signal".

Went back into BIOS, changed the order of booting to HD, CDROM as initially the order was FLOPPY first but it has not made any difference.

Is there anything else I can try?

Incidentally, I noticed that when I press F12 and the window exhibits the hardware to boot from, the hard disk has a + sign in front of it irrespective of what booting order was arranged in the BIOS. Is that significant?

I knew that the mobo was old manufacture and would probably be out of warranty. If I cannot resolve this then I'll get back to Gigabyte. Their last response was very supportive and suggested to get back to them if I failed to resolve the problem.

Edit. Just looked through last reponse from Gigabyte and they state "Please make sure that you are using genius OS". DO they mean genuine? The thing is, even though my Windows 7 is genuine, I can't get that far at the present moment.

Re: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 will not boot HD

For OS installation, set your CDrom as the first boot device and your hard drive as the second device.
The "+" sign means that you have additional possible options if you select to boot from your hard drive.

Did you run Memtest86+? If yes, which tests and for how long?
Did you load Optimized Bios Defaults before you made your bios changes?
Is your hard drive completely empty and unformatted?
Is SATA AHCI Mode enabled? disabled? Do you plan to upgrade to an SSD later?

I think that your best bet is to try to install the operating system using only one memory module.
It doesn't sound like your system is stable right now with two memory modules installed.
Save your current bios settings as a saved bios profile. The mobo user manual has instructions for saving and loading up to eight different bios profiles.

Before starting the install, enter the bios and press [CTRL]+F1. Enter the MIT section and make sure that a red warning box does NOT appear.

Your motherboard might be OK, getting DDR3 memory settings dialed in is often a hit or miss proposition with many LGA775 systems.
Glad to help out. Good luck!!
Any questions?

Re: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 will not boot HD

For OS installation, set your CDrom as the first boot device and your hard drive as the second device.

Have done that

The "+" sign means that you have additional possible options if you select to boot from your hard drive.

Now I undeerstand

Did you run Memtest86+?

I couldn't as it will not boot off the DVD drive. The tray opens and shuts but will not start booting whatever is in there.

Did you load Optimized Bios Defaults before you made your bios changes?

Yes

Is your hard drive completely empty and unformatted?

No, it has Windows 7 on it.

Is SATA AHCI Mode enabled? disabled?

Disabled

Do you plan to upgrade to an SSD later?

Yes, but does not look like it's going to be with this board

I think that your best bet is to try to install the operating system using only one memory module.

I removed the other module, booted but still experienced the same problem

It doesn't sound like your system is stable right now with two memory modules installed.
Save your current bios settings as a saved bios profile. The mobo user manual has instructions for saving and loading up to eight different bios profiles.

Have done that and learnt about the saving and loading awhile back while googling.

Before starting the install, enter the bios and press [CTRL]+F1. Enter the MIT section and make sure that a red warning box does NOT appear.

This I do not understand. I entered the bios and pressed [CTRL]+F1 but nothing happened. At the bottom there is no such command available.

Your motherboard might be OK

I hope so

getting DDR3 memory settings dialled in is often a hit or miss proposition with many LGA775 systems.

Is that what is preventing from either the HD or DVDROM from loading? If it is then maybe you will be able to resolve the problem for me but at the present moment neither of the hardware works.

To reiterate, I have changed the booting order, but the CDROM will not load.

I have even disconnected the HD and connected the CDROM to the SATAII0 connector but it still will not load. I have noticed that when I switch the computer on, the light on the CDROM drive comes on, stays on till just after the computer beeps for the memory and starts posting. After that the light will not come on.

Re: Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 will not boot HD

"Please make sure that you are using genius OS". DO they mean genuine?

I 'm pretty sure that they mean genuine.
You need to add a detailed hardware list to your forum signature.
Follow steps #1 and #2 in http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...tml#post295784, post #5. Include brand and model number information for your memory, drives, graphics card, monitor, cpu heatsink cooler, computer case, fans, etc. Also provide links to these components that include detailed specifications and/or a pdf user manual that can be downloaded.

Do you have any spare components that you can swap in while testing, such as pci-e or pci graphic cards, different optical drive, different monitor, power supply, etc.?
Do you have a floppy drive attached so that you can run Memtest86+ from a floppy? You might be able to boot to a usb drive for testing. With your optical and hard drive disconnected, you should be able to run Memtest86+ with only one memory module installed so that we can see if your system is stable with a bare bones setup.

Pressing [CTRL]+F1 often causes the main bios screen to momentarily flash and this key combination is used to "unhide" some hidden bios options. In your next post, please post your current failing bios settings using the X48 bios template.

The first thing we need to do is confirm that none of your components are causing the current problems.
The problem might be caused by a short circuit with your motherboard installed in the computer case. More on this later, you might need to test your system with the mobo outside of, and next to your computer case.